Things aren’t always what they seem: contains graphic material

There’s a darkness that looms in this place. A heaviness I’ve never felt before nor ever want to feel again. I can feel it deep inside my chest, on my chest, pressing down making it hard to breath. In the daylight as I walk down Soi Easy I can feel it. A sudden kick in the stomach. He’s here. The presence of evil is so thick it’s almost tangible.

In the light the darkness is revealed, but at night is when the sin is inticing. The Devil so cleverly disguises it. He wraps it in a pretty little package with pink bows. At night walking down Soi Easy I don’t feel the heaviness. I could almost see my friends and I going to the bars for a drink. It’s easy to feel comfortable here. I don’t feel out of place, but that’s the Devil’s lies whispering in my ear.

 

                           

                            Soi Sea Dragon

 

                           

                           Soi Crocodile

 

                          

                           Soi Crocodile: Lady boys

 

                         

                          Bangla Rd: Families come with their children

 

                         

                         Soi Lion

                      

                                                    

 

                       

                     Soi Tiger

 

                       

 

 

It’s hard to escape it. Brokenness, fear, loneliness, and bondage hold the lost captive. The girls and lady boys (transgenders) in prostitution as well as the tourists are prisoners. They hide it so well under their half smiles, but deep down they know they’re empty.

But where the spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM! A song that so sweetly replays in my head “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is healing. Freedom reigns in this place. Power of mercy and grace…”